


Out With A Bang

by Dr_Lombax



Category: Megamind (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-18
Updated: 2015-01-18
Packaged: 2018-03-08 03:42:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3193967
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dr_Lombax/pseuds/Dr_Lombax
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A few months before the start of the film, Megamind sneaks out of the lair late one night for a very important mission.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out With A Bang

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this one-shot to break through my recent writer's block. I'm still working on "Uncertainties" but the next chapter is going to take longer than I had thought. Feel free to ask me about updates on Tumblr at sergeantlombax.tumblr.com.  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Megamind. It belongs to Dreamworks.

If somebody were to ask Minion what quality he prided himself on most, he would definitely say his sense of perception. He had the uncanny ability to see beyond the obvious and pick up on things most people would overlook. He attributed this fact to the manner in which he was raised. When he was a guppy, confined to nothing more than a glass bowl, in most situations all he could do was look and listen. It was a frustrating way to grow up, and yet it helped him to hone valuable skills. Even after his master built him a sturdy robotic body, which allowed him to do far more things than he could before, he still found that he preferred to think and process rather than to act.

Now, watching his boss sitting at his design table, working on some new insidious invention, all the alarm bells in his head were going off. He prided himself on being especially attuned to Megamind’s behavior above all others. This made sense considering how they had known each other for basically their entire lives, and he knew something was _definitely_ not right.

Megamind sat in a brightly lit corner on the lair, his back turned to Minion, most likely unaware of his presence. It wasn’t uncommon for him to lose himself completely when he was working, but his mannerisms seemed very off. For one thing, he was totally silent. Often when he worked, he would blare rock music from a nearby radio, singing or humming along to the tune. Now, the radio sat off to the side of the table, unused, and not a sound escaped the azure alien’s lips. The pencil with which he was writing swirled in a smooth, lazy rhythm across the paper, so unlike the erratic, hasty scribbles that were his norm. His meal lay discarded on a nearby table, having gone cold hours ago. It was perfectly untouched, including the fudge lava cake that Minion had spent so many hours working on.

At any other time, Minion would have felt indignant at this, and given his boss the cold shoulder for the rest of the day- and maybe even all of the next one. But something was clearly wrong here, and he needed to get to the bottom of it to set things right. So he set his own hurt feelings aside and edged a bit closer to where Megamind was working. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

That was the problem. He wasn’t quite sure how to broach the subject. Minion hadn’t seen Megamind break down or show real pain for many years. It was a trait that had been beaten out of him in his boyhood. If Minion ever tried to suggest that he might be upset, he would often just laugh it off and act like he didn’t have a clue what Minion was talking about. And if he persisted, oftentimes he was met with hostility. Those episodes often ended with Megamind either finding a way to escape before the conversation went to deep, or storming off in a venomous rage.

Part of Minion wanted to just leave his friend alone and hope the matter sorted itself out. And yet he took his duty as guardian seriously, so he felt that he needed to do something.

Suddenly, a brainbot came flying across the lair, bumping into Minion’s glass dome with a heavy _thunk_. Minion stumbled forward before righting himself, but the noise finally alerted Megamind to his fish’s presence. He turned and gave a small start.

“Minion” he chortled lightly “How long have you been standing there? Do you need something?” He appeared to force himself to relax, and his smile was strained. It was clear that he was worried he may have appeared troubled, and was now overcompensating with this cheerful demeanor.

“Uh… I was just-um- wondering…” Oh boy. He was not ready for this. “Do you-err- do you need anything?”

Megamind chuckled and favored his henchfish with a fond look. Oh this was bad. He was definitely hiding something. “Thank you, but no. In fact, I have just a few more things to finish up here, and then I’m off to sleep. Why don’t you go ahead and power down; I’ll be right behind you.”

Minion fidgeted nervously and twiddled his fingers together. “Okay, but… are you sure there’s nothing I can do for you?”

Something in his voice must have sounded suspicious, because Megamind cocked an eyebrow and his smile faded. “Yes.” He said slowly “I’m fairly sure. Why do you ask?”

“Well, I-“ Minion cut off what he was going to say. He looked at his boss, and suddenly felt very tired. He wanted to help, so badly. But he also knew exactly how this was going to play out. He didn’t want to start an argument which would ultimately end in a shouting match. He felt his nerves fail him, and he exhaled heavily. “Never mind. Goodnight, Sir.” And with that he lumbered off to bed.

“Good night, Minion.” Megamind called out cheerfully. “Sleep well.”

Minion padded over to his personal corner of the lair. He sat down and raised his castle from the depths of his body suit. As he slid inside and lowered it back down, he tried to convince himself that everything would be alright in the end. His boss was strong, even if he didn’t realize it. Nothing kept him down for long, and he would be back to his old, hyperactive self in no time, even without Minion’s help.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Megamind remained still as a statue as he listened to Minion heading off to sleep. His highly attuned ears picked up the sound of the suit powering down, and the castle moving inside the robotic body. After a few minutes, he allowed himself to breathe a deep sigh of relief. Minion could be very stubborn sometimes, and if he had caught on that something was amiss, Megamind wouldn’t be able to get rid of him until he had found out what it was.

He stood, making sure to make as little noise as possible, and pushed his chair back into position. He grabbed the paper he’d been drawing on- covered in nothing more than a bunch of useless scribbles- tossing it into a nearby trash can. Looking around to make sure no brainbots were in the area, he jogged across the lair, his footfalls making barely a sound.

As he reached his wardrobe, he cast one more look around himself, and ducked inside. Less than a minute later, he emerged. He now sported a pair of dark sneakers and navy blue cargo pants, held up by a belt with his “M” shaped logo. His fingers were encased in thick leather gloves, similar to the ones he usually wore, except that they only came up to his wrists. A solid black hoodie completed the ensemble, the hood modified by Minion so that it actually fit over his enlarged head.

Without wasting another moment, Megamind headed over toward the lair’s exit, making sure to grab a set of keys on the way out. The holographic wall gave off its usual sound as the light passed over his body, and then he was outside.

He stood for a moment, taking in the slight chill of the night. The sun had set hours ago, and the moon gave off only a sliver of light. He inhaled, and let out a shaky breath, hoping to steady his nerves. Then he shook himself from his trance and briskly jogged around and side of the building towards a large form hidden beneath a tarp. He quickly pulled the sheet aside to reveal a sleek black motorcycle, with an electric blue stripe down the side.

Megamind moved the bike out from under the tarp and went around to the back. He pressed a button just behind the seat and a panel popped open, revealing a hidden compartment. Inside were his dehydration gun, a bottle of sparkling cider, a thin cable and a small camcorder with slight modifications to its circuitry. After checking to make sure everything was present, he closed the door and returned to the front of the bike. He grabbed the enlarged helmet that was sitting on the side of the handlebar and placed it on his head. Then, he began to walk the bike out and away from the lair. There was never any traffic in the warehouse section of Metro City, so loud engine noises were rarely heard in the area. Megamind didn’t want to risk turning the motorcycle on too close to the lair, concerned that the engine might wake Minion, and alert him to Megamind’s absence.

Megamind felt his insides twist with nerves, and he almost abandoned the whole mission right then. It would be so simple. All he’d have to do is turn around, walk right back into his home and go to sleep, pretending the idea had never even occurred to him in the first place.

Oh but it had. This particular idea had been with him from a very young age. Decades had passed, and now the time had come. If he missed this opportunity, he knew he would regret it for the rest of his life. He took another deep breath, grateful for the chilled air and its calming effect on his frantic state of mind. He replayed the entire plan in his head several times, hoping to distract himself.

Soon, he reached a point where he was several blocks away from the lair, and felt it was safe to ride. He mounted the bike and revved the engine. The machine roared to life- a bit too loudly for Megamind’s liking- and he sped away into the night. He wound his way through the deserted streets with the ease of long practice, and soon emerged onto the city’s populated thoroughfare. With unconscious movements, he mapped his way through town, towards the shining dome of the Metro City observatory.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Within a few minutes, Megamind turned into the empty parking lot and hid his bike behind a nearby tree. He removed his helmet, pulling the hood of his jacket up around his head. It probably wouldn’t do any good in hiding his identity if he happened to meet someone that got a good look at him, but Megamind believed that the mindless drones of Metro City couldn’t be bothered to pay much attention to the world around them. Walking around the bike, he grabbed his gear from the back, stowing each item in different pockets on his outfit. He then hesitantly crept up towards the building, keeping in the shadows. The lights in the building were very low, and the asphalt around in the parking lot was crumbling. The city had stopped providing funding for the observatory a few months back, and its lack of profit was showing. There had even been rumors that it would be shut down and abandoned sometime soon. Megamind was just relieved that it was still operating tonight.

He was also relieved that astronomy was such an unpopular subject among the denizens of Metro City. Even though the observatory was open, there wasn’t another soul in sight. He quickly pushed his way in through the doors and entered into the main lobby.

As he strode towards the center of the large gallery, he took in the sights around him. He always loved coming here; seeing the exhibits; letting himself get lost in science. Ever since he had first walked through these doors as a very young child, hand in hand with the Warden, coming to the observatory gave him a sense of peace he seldom got anywhere else. There was something calming about indulging his interest in science without having it tinged with notions of evil.

Bringing his mind back to the presence, Megamind checked his watch. It was a useless gesture, since he had an internal clock which never failed to keep track of time to the precise second. And yet, it gave him a sense of normalcy and comfort. Just as he’d already known, the time showed it to be 11:46pm. He had seventeen minutes, before he needed to be in the observation deck. Pleased with this notion, he allowed himself to meander, and take a look around the main floor.

There were some new exhibits, he noted. One was fairly dull; it was a simple poster that talked about Jupiter’s storm. Megamind personally found it to be a very simple topic, after all almost everyone past fourth grade new of the Great Red Spot. Another display proved to be more interesting. It was an interactive video that quizzed the user’s knowledge as it went along. The narrator began by discussing how mass affected the field of gravity, which caused small objects to get caught in the orbits of bigger ones. Megamind was so engrossed following along and answering the questions as they came up, that he didn’t hear the sound of approaching footsteps until they had almost rounded the corner. Suddenly, he gave a small yelp of surprise, and turned away hoping to disappear from sight.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t fast enough. “Hello?” A male voice came from behind him. “Someone there?”

Megamind moved so that he was cast in the shadow of a nearby billboard. He was still in the man’s line of sight, but hopefully the lack of light and the human’s lack of wit would prevent him from sensing that there was anything out of the ordinary about this late night visitor.

“Um, yeah.” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly “I was just looking for something to do, and I saw that this place was still open.” He could see now that the man was wearing a night watchman’s uniform. Like all uniforms of law enforcement, the mere sight of it made his proverbial hackles rise. His fingers twitched next to his side, where his gun was hidden.

Fortunately, this one seemed like one of the slow ones- well, _slower_. He gave a lopsided, goofy grin with no hint of suspicion. “Well, it won’t be for much longer. My boss actually told me a few weeks ago that I’m being transferred to the Metro City Museum of Natural History next month. This whole place is being shut down.”

Hearing those words made Megamind’s breath catch in his throat. Of course he’d heard the rumors, but somehow, hearing actual confirmation made him feel queasy. He kept himself composed, and nodded along mutely.

“Well” the watchman said “May as well have one more person enjoy the exhibits before they all get taken down. Would you like a guided tour?” The man took a step in his direction.

“NO.” He said, a little too quickly and loudly. “I mean- I just sort of like wandering around, you know, on my own.”

This seemed like a good enough excuse to the watchman, who nodded in understanding. “Alrighty then. Enjoy the rest of your stay sir.” And with that he walked away, whistling a tuneless melody.

Megamind felt his legs turn to jelly and leaned against the display board next to him. After waiting for a few more moments to ensure that the man wouldn’t return, he hurried up a nearby spiral staircase, and set out along the hallway of the upper floor. Going out in public was so stressful. If anybody got so much as a glimpse of him, screaming and mass hysteria would erupt in an instant, and he usually had less than a handful of minutes before the cops or- god forbid- _Metroman_ showed up. If only there was a way to disguise himself fully to look like a normal human. Like some kind of light-projection device that could cast a hologram around his body in order to…hmmmmm.

This train of thought was interrupted as he came to a stop in front of two large double doors. According to his internal clock, he had eight minutes left. He cast a glance around himself and cocked his head, listening. When he was met with silence, he entered into the observation deck, closing and locking the doors behind him. Once assured that he wouldn’t be interrupted, Megamind didn’t waste a second. He hurried over to the large telescope that was situated in the middle of the room, pulling the camcorder and cable from his pockets. He opened a panel on the side of the telescope and began pulling wires out and inspecting them carefully. It was vital that he did this right. He had been waiting far too long for anything to go wrong tonight.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Blue was just four years old when the Warden brought him to the observatory for the first time. He was so excited he didn’t even mind the orange jumpsuit and the tracking bracelet around his ankle. He toddled happily around, the Warden’s hand tight around his own. They had spent the entire afternoon looking at the different exhibits and learning about space. The few people that were around them gave him weird stares and a wide birth, but he was so engrossed in what he saw that he barely even registered them.

Then, they came up to the observatory. The Warden led him into the giant, domed room and he couldn’t believe his eyes. In the center of the room was the biggest telescope he had ever seen, facing out of a giant slit on the side of the wall. He hadn’t even known telescopes could be that big. The Warden then pulled him along until they were standing right next to the lens.

“You see here, Blue” he said kindly “These are the controls. This one moves the lens left and right; this one goes up and down.” He demonstrated with each lever. “Then you can see different stuff. Do you want to try?”

Blue did a double take so fast, he felt soreness in his neck. But from the look on the Warden’s face, he’d heard correctly. He nodded vigorously, which would later lead to even more soreness, but he didn’t care. The Warden patted him on the back and stepped back a few paces, letting him do what he wanted.

Blue took the controls and looked through the scope. He could see not only stars, but planets as well. As he turned the controls, the view changed to show new astronomical bodies. Suddenly, Blue was struck by a thought. His tiny hands moved the knobs ever so slightly, his mind recalling the trajectory that his small ship had taken to the prison years ago. He just wanted to see what the black hole that took his planet looked like now. 

As the telescope came into focus, what he saw shocked him. He didn’t see a black hole. Instead, he saw a star, with planets- whole, unbroken planets- orbiting safely. The sight of his own blue planet filled him with happiness. Of course his mind should have known better, but he didn’t. He pointed excitedly to the Warden, but he couldn’t seem to form a coherent string of words together, which was odd for him at that age.

The Warden came over and looked through the lens. “Wow” he said “You found an interesting one there buddy.”

Blue tried to explain, but he felt himself bursting with so much happiness that he could barely speak. His planet was there. His parents were alive. Where they coming for him? Of course they were!!! He jumped up and down and started waving his arms.

The Warden, on his part, couldn’t understand what had come over his young charge, but he was thrilled to see him happier than he had ever been. He was so giddy that he didn’t even protest when the Warden told him they finally had to go. He just looked out the window, waved at the sky and yelled “Goodbye! See you soon!” That was an odd thing to say. Well, if it made the kid happy, then he would continue to bring him by here. It was good that he was exploring life outside the prison and enjoying himself.

-0-0-0-0-0-

It wasn’t until a few years later- three years of waiting for his family to come for him- that he’d finally figured it out. His parents were dead. He had travelled to Earth at a speed far faster than the speed of light. What he was seeing was simply an illusion, a glimpse of the past. It had been a devastating and horrible reality to come to grips with, especially after he’d been given hope. Still, despite these shattered dreams he enjoyed going to the observatory to see his home world.

When he was ten, he did the math: given the speed of light, the distance from Earth to his planet, and the day of the black hole destroying everything, he calculated the exact moment in time that his planet would no longer be visible from Earth. It would be tonight- three minutes and twenty-two seconds from now.

He sat back to admire his handiwork. The cable was now hooked up to the central viewing monitor. Whatever he chose to aim the telescope at, the camcorder would record. Within a matter of seconds, he aligned the scope from memory and his home world came into view. At this point it was basically second nature. With that, he brought his bottle of sparkling cider out from the confines of his jacket.

Then he sat in the viewer’s chair and waited. Looking through the scope, he felt a pang of regret that he had chosen not to include Minion in his plan. After all, it had been _his_ home planet too. But even when he’d first told Minion about seeing their planet through the telescope, the little fish hadn’t been nearly as enthusiastic as he had about the matter. In fact, he’d been the first one to suggest Blue had been mistaken about what he’d seen. Perhaps it was better this way. He wanted to do this alone anyway- he had to do it alone.

Suddenly, through the scope of the telescope lens, he saw it. The sun began to implode, its white-hot color suddenly turning black. One by one, the planets began to inch towards the hole that had opened up so spontaneously. First one planet disappeared, then another. A familiar blue orb crumbled and fell into the void with painful slowness. Then another one, gold in color, followed suit. Finally, none of the planets in the galaxy were left. Nothing remained but the wretched dark hole. It had felt like it was over so quickly, but somehow had also taken an eternity.

Megamind leaned back in his chair and realized with a start that tears were streaming down his cheeks. This was what he had known was coming, but that did nothing to soften the blow. He then looked down at his hand, which was clutching the bottle of sparkling cider so tightly the knuckles were white. He’d meant to toast the end of his planet, but during the event, he’d forgotten completely. Oh well. He certainly didn’t feel like toasting to anything now.

As he placed the bottle back inside his jacket, there came a thud from the doors. “Hello?” It was the security guard. He heard the double doors rattle as the man outside attempted to open them. “Is someone in there? Open up.” The last sentence became authoritative and the pounding continued with renewed vigor.

Megamind sprang from his chair and ran towards the opening slit on the side of the building. Just before he reached it, he skidded to a stop. Turning on his heel, he ran back and snatched the camcorder from where it lay. He could hear the jingling of keys on the other side of the door. There wasn’t much time left.

With a single leap, he crossed the floor and threw himself out the opening. His hands reflexively caught the edge and he hung on tight. He could hear the doors opening as the watchman came into the observatory to inspect.

“Hello?” he called out again “I know I heard someone in here? Are you that guy from earlier?”

Megamind gritted his teeth and let go of the sill. When he was halfway down the building, he pushed off with his feet. His hands caught the branch of a nearby tree, which held for a moment, then gave way with a crack. Luckily, it broke his fall well enough that he wasn’t seriously injured when he hit the ground. He bent his knees and rolled with the impact, allowing him to get up with only a few minor bruises. He checked his camcorder, and was relieved to see it was undamaged from the fall.

“Hey!” Megamind looked up behind him to see the watchman looking down from the telescope’s opening. As he raised his head, the hood fell around his shoulders, revealing his face. The guard’s mouth fell open for a moment, before he recovered himself and pointed authoritatively at the slender intruder. “Don’t move.”

With a wry grin and a mocking salute, Megamind turned and sprinted to where his bike lay hidden.

-0-0-0-0-0-

A few hours later, Megamind sat on the roof of his hideout, looking out across the bay. He absentmindedly tapped on the camcorder in his lap. Maybe he hadn’t wanted Minion to be with him when it happened, but he felt that one day, he’d show the recording to his closest and only friend. Remembering his own reaction, he was glad he’d been alone.

He had no regrets. As painful as it had been to say goodbye, he felt glad he had given his home a proper farewell. With a sigh, he removed the bottle of cider from inside his jacket once again. The night air had done a good job of keeping it chilly. He unscrewed the top and held the bottle aloft, staring upwards towards the cosmos.

“Well. Here’s to you. Way to go out with a bang.” And then he took a long swig from the bottle.

He remained staring up at the sky for what felt like an eternity. Then his gaze dropped to where the observatory stood, across the bay from him, high on a hill. The mere sight of it caused his stomach to plunge. Nausea swam through him, and he had to take another drink to calm himself. How was he supposed to go through his life, constantly having that building staring down at him? The mere sight of it sent a pang of anguish through his heart. What had once brought him joy he could no longer stand to look at. It was now nothing more than a painful reminder of what he had lost.

And it wasn’t like once the building was closed it would be torn down. It would probably remain standing abandoned for several more years. He supposed he could move the lair, but that seemed like a lot of work. And it would definitely take a while.

A bright light interrupted his thoughts and he had to bring a hand up to shield his eyes. The sun was rising just over the waters of the bay now.

Ugh. That stupid sun………….

Wait a moment.

_**The Sun!** _

A plan began forming in his mind.

Slowly, a maniacal grin formed on his face, and he jumped up from his sitting position. He bounded over to the hatch that opened up on the roof of his building and slid down the ladder in a flash.

-0-0-0-0-0-

Minion woke to a great hub bub going on in the lair. He shook himself and raised his castle up to his dome. As his body powered up, he recognized the sounds he was hearing. His boss’s music was blasting throughout the lair, punctuated by his maniacal laughter.

Confused but hopeful, Minion followed the source of the sound until he came to Megamind’s inventing area. The blue alien was bounding between several drawing boards, eyes wild and scribbling madly, clad in his usual black and blue costume. Minion could only just make out certain abstract shapes in the designs: a satellite, plans for a dome attachment to the lair, something that looked like a watch of some kind.

Megamind suddenly turned, aware of Minion’s presence. “Good morning, my piscine friend! Glad you’re finally up- we have a busy day ahead of us.” And with that, he jumped down from where he was writing and bounded over to Minion like a gleeful puppy. He withdrew a piece of paper from his pocket, and thrust it towards the dome so energetically that Minion had to take a step back.

“Now listen” he babbled “I need you to take the car and head down to the junkyard. Bring me these items, making sure to pay attention to specifics. You may need to make several trips. Well, don’t just stand around. Hurry! The sun’s moving in the sky as we speak.” Something about that notion tickled him, because he burst into maniacal laughter once again, and proceeded to jump between idea clouds hanging from the ceiling and drawing boards plastered on the walls.

Minion had watched this outburst with total silence. Now, a wide grin spread across his features. “Don’t worry, Sir. I’ll get right on it. You can count on me.” Then he turned and ambled away towards the invisible car. As he went, he could hear his master singing along as the radio played “Enter Sandman”. Grabbing the car keys, he shook his head. What had he been so worried for? Of course his boss would be back to normal in no time. As he hopped into the car and sped out of the lair, Minion felt at ease, assured now that everything would be just fine.


End file.
